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SMOOTHED OUT AND STRETCHED and the slightly sinuous legs of his table prove the point. The legs are notable not only for their restraint but also for combining a fairly hard line down the outside corner with softly rounded inside faces. Blachly’s design started with “I a small freehand sketch and proceeded to a full-scale drawing. To generate the lines of the legs’ curves full size, he used a spline and spline weights. This simple technique, an essential in a boatdesigner’s kit, involves placing a thin, flexible strip of solid wood (the spline) right on the drawing paper and bending it to the desired curves. A few weights placed strategically along the spline hold it still while you trace the curve with a pencil. The longer the curve, the thicker the spline should be, Blachly says. For these legs, he used a cherry spline about 3 ⁄16 in. thick and 7⁄8 in. wide. To ensure that the spline think subtle can be powerful,” says Ted Blachly, takes an even curve when bent, it should be made from straightgrained stock. Specially made spline weights can be purchased (woodenboatstore.com; no. 835073S), but Blachly improvises with blocks of soapstone. To make the legs, Blachly started with squared-up blanks milled from a 12/4 mahogany plank. He transferred the curves from his drawing to the leg blanks with a flexible template he made from ¼ -in.-thick lauan plywood. After tracing the template on one face of each leg, he bandsawed those curves. Then, to provide a flat bearing surface for cutting the second face, Blachly taped the bottom offcut back in place. He positioned the template on the now-curved upper face, traced it, and cut the second set of curves. He smoothed the curves with spokeshaves and bench planes, including a flexible-soled compass plane. HOW TO MAKE THE LEG 1 USE A SPLINE TO CREATE THE DRAWING Spline, made from straight-grained, clear hardwood Spline weights hold flexible spline in place. 3 BANDSAW THE CURVES ON THE FIRST FACE Bandsaw both curves, and set the bottom offcut aside. 4 BANDSAW THE CURVES ON THE SECOND FACE 2 TRACE THE TEMPLATE ON ONE FACE OF THE BLANK Make a leg template from ¼ -in. lauan plywood. Leg blanks are machined square and mortises are cut before cabriole is shaped. Photo, this page: Dean Powell; drawings: Christopher Mills Redraw cabriole lines with ¼ -in. template. Tape bottom offcut onto leg. Masking tape MAY/JUNE 2010 73